Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University is pleased to announce that over 20 regional acts were selected to perform on three stages at the third annual Heartbeat of Mexico’s free Outdoor Festival on Sunday, May 27, 2018 from 1pm to 7:30pm.

Featuring some of the top local and regional Mexican-American ensembles in Southern California, the festival will present traditional and contemporary music, dance, and folklórico performances to the community. Every region of Mexico has its own dance style, music, and costuming from a variety of cultural influences, including the indigenous tribes, Spanish, Africans, Germans, and the French. The performances selected for this year’s event reflect the beauty of Mexico’s rich history, music, and art.

5:45pm – Grupo Folklórico Fusion Mexicana: Based in Ventura County, these dancers are more than just great performers; they also have a deep passion for education and community activism.

6:45pm – Cambalache: Close out the night in the spirit of the fandango with the East LA-based group playing high-energy son jarocho music from Veracruz.

In addition to the performances, the festival will feature a variety of family fun activities, a food fair, and many more events outside on Aitken Arts Plaza. Family activity highlights include: creating a Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera-inspired zine, shouting ¡Loteria! during a hilariously popular group game with similarities to bingo, making paper flowers and papel picado, and exploring the regional cultures with the Consulate of Mexico during a fun Passport Adventure Game.

Mariachi Los Camperos headlines Musco Center’s third annual Heartbeat of Mexico festival on Saturday, May 26 at 7:30pm. Generally regarded as Southern California’s top mariachi ensemble, this band was founded by the legendary Nati Cano. They performed at the first Heartbeat of Mexico festival in 2016 and return by popular demand. Mariachi Mestizo from California’s Central Valley will open the evening. This group is among the state’s top youth mariachi and features both boys and girls across all instruments. Venerated across Mexico, Natalia Lafourcade will perform Sunday, May 27 at 6pm. She is a rapidly emerging voice of the people, lilting across the borders of folk and pop into pure rock superstardom.

Heartbeat of Mexico is a Musco Center World CAFE Event presented in association with Chapman University’s Latinx Staff & Faculty Forum. The community is invited to participate in the free and ticketed events throughout the third annual Heartbeat of Mexico festival. Tickets for May 26 are on sale now and may be purchased through the Musco Center online at www.muscocenter.org/ or by calling the box office at 844-OC-MUSCO (844-626-8726). All print-at-home tickets include a no-cost parking pass. Musco Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Chapman Universityat 415 North Glassell, Orange, Calif.

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ABOUT MUSCO CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Since it opened on March 19, 2016, Marybelle and Sebastian P. Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University has been hailed as “an ideal opera house, potentially the best in the West and maybe even something more” by the Los Angeles Times.

Designed by renowned architects Pfeiffer Partners, with acoustics by world-renowned Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics, Musco Center boasts an intimate seating chamber with 1,044 seats on three levels and a full-scale stagehouse capable of grand spectacle or lush symphonic sound with its unique orchestral shell in place. Musco Center serves as a dynamic focal point for campus life and the broader community, giving notice that world-class arts education and artistic achievement have found a new home in Southern California.

For more information about Musco Center and its upcoming events, and to purchase tickets online, visit www.muscocenter.org.

ABOUT LATINX STAFF & FACULTY FORUM

The Chapman Latinx Staff & Faculty Forum was developed in Fall 2015 to provide support to Latinx students, staff, and faculty by developing connections and building a bridge between students, parents, alumni, community organizations, and the Chapman community.

ABOUT MUSCO CENTER FOR THE ARTS WORLD CAFE

Musco Center offers its World CAFE (Cultural Arts Festivals and Events) series as an opportunity to engage in meaningful community collaboration with partners across Southern California. Each World CAFE salutes a different country or part of the world that connects back to the Southland, to showcase both the traditional and contemporary art forms and how those forms have evolved here in California.